


get your head in the game

by lovepaintxxx



Series: play me [1]
Category: NU'EST, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 05:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17419748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovepaintxxx/pseuds/lovepaintxxx
Summary: minhyun finds himself distracted at the most crucial part of the game.





	get your head in the game

There’s twenty seconds left on the clock, and their team calls for their last timeout. The cheers are so loud — he hears them. But Minhyun is too in the zone to even be affected by the cheering and the drumming. They’re in the finals, as expected by everyone who follows the league. They’re undoubtedly the best team here, but the game is tied, and he’s not sure how to go about it.  
  
There’s a burning feeling in his chest, which is only amplified by the celebratory look on the face of their opponent’s captain — the guy who’s been shooting three-pointers one after the other. He’s so riled up at this point, and his teammates see it. They’re giving him a wary look, but none of them approach him. They know it’ll only upset him even more if they do.

He knows Daniel is trying his best, but despite the tight defense he’s employing, Kang Dongho just keeps on making his shots. And it frustrates Minhyun to no end, because the guy he’s tasked to defend isn’t even getting to touch the ball.

“Hwang Minhyun, I know you’re frustrated. But stick to your man, going for Daniel’s won’t help us at this point. You hear me?”

  
This is what Minhyun hates the most about in-game huddles — how their coach would always be at their throats about their game regardless of whether they’re leading or not. Now, they’re tied, when they were expected to lead by at least ten, on the first game of the postseason, and their coach has singled him out and has been talking their ears off for the entire time-out about how he should stick with his man, how he shouldn’t have defended Kang Dongho one-on-one in the last few plays.  
  
Minhyun knows he’s wrong. Their man-to-man defense pattern has him matched up against some Kim Mingyu, and again, it’s Daniel whose assigned to Kang Dongho. But the thing is, there’s just something about that guy the riles Minhyun up, the look on his face every time he makes a good pass, the small smile on his lips whenever he makes a shot - everything.

It makes his skin crawl, and there’s a lingering feeling at the pit of his stomach. He doesn’t know what it means, so he’s quick to attribute it nerves, to the fact that the ugly side of the competition is getting to him.

Maybe he isn’t just used to playing with someone so calm and unassuming but at the same time is so skilled and strong-willed. He’d say he doesn’t care, but he’s heard so much about Kang Dongho and how he managed to will his team to life, a team that has been a cellar dweller the past few years. While Minhyun’s team is undeniably the best, Kang Dongho’s team is the clear example of a underdog team that’s managed to beat every expectation of them.

Minhyun looks at him now, and Dongho looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world, like they’re not playing an important game, like there isn’t so much at stake. He looks so calm, and he’s meeting his teammates with a radiant eye smile, that sends Minhyun even more at the edge.

The buzzer sounds, and he and his teammates make their way back to the court.

Their coach remains firm in his choice of a full-court press, so as much as Minhyun wants to move as help defense for Kang Dongho, he isn’t supposed to do so.

The other team brings the ball in, and as expected, the ball is passed to Kang Dongho, and he’s bringing the ball down to their side of the court. From his peripheral vision, Minhyun can see Daniel struggling to keep up with Dongho.

He knows he isn’t supposed to go against the play, but his gut feel just tells him that Dongho is going to pull-up for another three-point shot, and if he makes it, the game is most definitely theirs to bring home. So he leaves his man open, decides to go as help defense.

At the same time, Daniel is slowed down by a screen.

So now, he’s defending Dongho one-on-one. Face to face, Minhyun is kind of stunned, Kang Dongho’s eyes are an undeniably pretty shade of brown. And he curses himself, because he isn’t supposed to be thinking of that now. He’s supposed to keep his head in the game and his eyes on the ball. So he keeps Dongho close, he defends from the back, pushing the limits of the game, keeping him as close as the refs allow him to without being called for a foul. They go one-on-one for what feels like minutes, but Dongho turns around, and they’re now face to face again.

Minhyun bites his lip to preventing himself from saying anything, from showing any expression that could potentially give him away. But Kang Dongho just smiles at him, a smile that seems to hold no malice, not taunting in any way. Just, a nice smile. _A cute smile?_ He internally curses himself at the thought.

At this very crucial moment of the game, his heart has the audacity to skip a beat. At the same time, with his lapse in defense, Dongho takes the shot.

Everyone on court seems to stop, watching as the ball trickles in. The buzzer sounds, and Minhyun is left standing in place.

The look of pure joy in Kang Dongho’s face should be annoying, should be upsetting. And he looks at Minhyun wearing such a bright smile, and Minhyun finds that his smile is anything but.

**Author's Note:**

> i,,,, wrote this for purely self-indulgent purposes, and i think this is an au i'd like to explore more in the future? 
> 
> thank u for reading!!!


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